Thursday of last week was Maundy Thursday. The word “Maundy” comes from the Latin word “Mandatum” meaning “command” or “mandate”. The “mandate” of that day is when Jesus told His disciples, “Love one another as I have loved you.” (John 13)
Of course, last week Thursday we saw someone who did the opposite of that command. Not love, but hate. Not care, but harm.
But it is exactly because of last Thursday that it is important that we as Christians follow our Lord’s command. We have His mandate, His mandatum, to go forth and love as He loved. We are called to love because this world is deficient in its love.
This week I have been blown away by seeing people take opportunities to love students on campus, to love on the first responders, to love on the families of the victims. This is all heartening, but it doesn’t need to stop.
Eventually the pain of this moment will dull. Students will go home after finals. Some of the shock and fear will remain, but some will go away. What do we do then? We look for other ways to bring love.
Love isn’t based on an event. Love is based on a relationship. We love one another because we love *one another*, not because of a tragedy. That might be the occasion to show our love easily, but it is not the totality.
Perhaps because of this past Thursday, you can make a place in your heart to let every Thursday be one where you hear Jesus’ mandate. We could make every Thursday a “Maundy Thursday” and remember Jesus’ command. Because He didn’t wait for a tragedy to come to love us, but He came before we were even born so that He might show us what it looked like to love from the Cross.
This Thursday, and every Thursday, and every day, let us remember that our Lord who saved us gave us a mandate – and that mandate is to love one another as He loved us. May we do so.